Sokolov: Sovcomflot ready for privatization

Sovcomflot, Russia's largest shipping company, is ready for privatization, but no concrete decisions have been made yet, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov told TASS.

"The Ministry of Economic Development and the Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo) have not yet said it would happen this year. I can confirm our readiness and the intra-governmental procedures, but the decision has not been made yet," Mr Sokolov said, answering a question about Sovcomflot's possible privatization this year.

Earlier, the Ministry of Transport submitted a statement to the government on privatizing the state company.

TASS reports that 100 percent of Sovcomflot belongs to the government via Rosimushchestvo. The Finance Ministry hopes to receive some 30 billion rubles from the privatization.